Journalism, Mass Media, and Communication Class on the Various Aspects of the City of Beijing - Essay Example

? of Specific Purpose of the Speech: To enlighten the Journalism, mass media and communication on the various aspects of the city of Beijing, China Organizational Pattern: Topical Intended Audience: Journalism, mass media and communication Class Introduction Most, if not all of us must have heard about or visited the city of Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China. Besides being the political capital, Beijing is China’s cultural, business and international center. It is also a present-day metropolitan city full of life throughout the year. The first mention of Beijing is encountered in the historical works of Marco Polo, a 13the century Italian explorer who traces the origin of civilization in Beijing to as early as the 12th century. These signs of Beijing being the cradle of civilization made many travelers to visit the city, considered the capital of the East’s civilization. This speech intends to give you overview information on Beijing, so that you may appreciate not only the role of the city in ancient civilization but also its central role in shaping the economy, politics, culture and social spheres of modern civilization. In this speech, Beijing’s history, location, population, administration, economic development, education, health, culture religion language hotels, climate, travel tips, transportation shopping and nightlife are explored. This information is not only important for visitors to the city such as international students but also to local students interested in the rich history and economic development of the city. Fact about Beijing In Chinese, Beijing means the city to the north. As mentioned earlier, Beijing’s history can be traced to more than eight centuries ago, during the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). Built as Beijing by the Jin Dynasty, the city would later be named Zhongdu, after being seized by Mongol armies in 1215 (Li et al., 2007). The city was later renamed the Great Capital (Dadu) by the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) later renamed it Beiping, the Northern Peace on August 2, 1368 (Tourbeijing.com, 2012). From this brief history of the city, it is clear that despite Beijing being started by the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368), it was actually immensely reconstructed during the reign of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911). After these two dynasties, the city was transformed into an architectural masterpiece and emerged as the undisputed capital of the Chinese empire. Beijing’s location is the other aspect of the city worth knowing. Generally, Beijing covers approximately16, 800 square kilometers with 38% of it being flat land and 62% mountains. It is located 40 degrees north latitude and 116 degrees of longitudes (Tourbeijing.com, 2012). It is to the northern parts of China and borders Hebei Province to the north, west, south, and to a small extent, the east. It borders Tianjin Municipality to the southeast. As of 2009, Beijing’s population was 20 million people with about 5 million living within the city center and the rest on the peripheries. For administrative purposes, the city is divided into two counties and fourteen districts with Fengtai, Dongcheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Xicheng and Shijingshan being closer to the city while Tongzhou, Pinggu, Mentougou, Shunyi, Changping, Daxing, Huairou and Fangshan are on the outskirts. Economic Development, Health and Education A speech on Beijing would not be complete without mentioning the city’s economic development since its emergence. Of particular importance is the economic development of the city since the mid-20th century. In this period, Beijing transformed from a consumer city to a major industrial and global city. Currently, it does not only rank among the centers of power in China; Beijing is among the top Chinese investment hubs. In fact, with the current reforms in China, Beijing has managed to open up to improved urban construction. This development record saw the city host the Olympics Games in 2008 during which Beijing showcased its hospitality and development abilities. Currently, Beijing is graced by numerous key national projects, infrastructure buildings and state-of-the-art commercial and residential houses, which spring up every other day (Cotterell, 2007). Although they still exist, wasteland and low, dilapidated houses are increasingly vanishing from Beijing as they are replaced by newly-built, green and stylish residential quarters. Other hallmarks of Beijing’s economic development are magnificent overpasses and expressways, wide and smooth highways and attention-grabbing trees and gardens. In addition, Beijing boasts of being among the most developed cities in China, home to more than two dozen Fortune Global 500 companies, falling to the third place after Tokyo and Paris (Tourbeijing.com, 2012). It also boasts of more than 100 of the largest companies in China (Tourbeijing.com, 2012). That is enough for the economic development of Beijing; its health and education are also important aspects of the city to explore. Currently, there are approximately more than one hindered higher learning institution, the most notable among them being Beijing University and Qinghua University. The city also has about 1000 middle schools and 4500 primary schools (Tourbeijing.com, 2012). As of 2009, the total enrollment in Beijing’s learning institutions stood at over 2 million. Beijing also has more about 600 special schools, which receive special attention from the authorities (Tourbeijing.com, 2012). In addition, the city has Over 500 scientific research Institutions, hundreds of newspapers and periodicals and 300 publishers. Regarding health, Beijing has over 500 hospitals with about 65600 sick beds (Tourbeijing.com, 2012). Beijing’s Culture One conspicuous aspect of life in Beijing that one cannot fail to notice is the city’s rich culture, which is quite integral to the Chinese culture. This rich culture encompasses visual arts, martial arts, cuisine, sports, literature and music (Meng, 2011). Besides the martial art culture that is known to everyone interested in performing arts, Beijing also boasts of the Peking opera. A local or a tourist, you should try the culturally rich Beijing cuisine, the local style of cooking, most probably, the Beijing Roast Duck. The other cultural aspects of life in Beijing are religion, language and hospitality. Beijing practices religious freedom, as other cities in China, Hence, one is likely to encounter Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism Taoism and Christianity in Beijing with religious activities are carried out in Buddhist temples, mosques, Taoist temples and churches respectively (Meng, 2011). The major language in the city is the Beijing dialect of the Mandarin subdivision of the Chinese language. Foreign languages such as English, German, Italian and French are also spoken in the city, albeit to a slight extent. Hospitable hotels such as Prime Hotel, International Hotel, Sun-world Hotel, Holiday Inn Express and Temple of Heaven are quite serene for locals and visitors to the city (Harper, 2005). For travellers, Beijing is not only safe but also has favourable weather and climate most parts of the year, except for windy and dusty spring (Harper, 2005). However, the spring is short and expeditions quite popular form of tourism. Conclusion Whether one is a local resident or a visitor, the allure in the city of Beijing is rather welcoming. Whether one is interested in history, health care, education, tourism, investment or just interested in learning the Beijing culture, there will be something interesting to experience and learn. Besides the hospitable people of Beijing, historical sites and state-of-the-art facilities such as the Bird’s Nest of 2008 Beijing Olympics are bound to be good treats for everyone. Hence, everyone should make an attempt to sample life in Beijing and its environs. References Tourbeijing.com (2012). “Beijing Facts.” Retrieved on September 27, 2013 from http://www.tour-beijing.com/beijing/#.UkUUFOxPq1s Li, L., Dray-Novey, A., Haili, K. (2007). Beijing: from imperial capital to Olympic city. New York City, United States: Palgrave Macmillan. Harper, D., (2005). Beijing: city guide, sixth edition. Oakland, California: Lonely Planet Publications. Cotterell, A. (2007). The imperial capitals of china: an inside view of the Celestial Empire. London: Pimlico. Meng, F. (2011). Phenomenon of Chinese culture at the turn of the 21st century. Singapore: Silkroad Press. Read More